Very good / powerfull flash.
Features are excellent.
Zoom range provided is also good.

Very expenisive.
Zoom range at the wide angle should have been more.
Wide angle adaptor and bounce flash adaptor look a bit delicate - so be very careful.
Does not have a built in slave unit like the SB 26

Had to settle for the SB28 as Nikon discontinued the manufacture of a great flash - the SB26. I searched the markets in the UK, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong, through friends for the SB26 for nearly 6 months - but to no avail. But overall I am very happy that I have bought the SB28. Will come in very useful when I upgrade (very soon) from my F60D to either the F80S or the F90X. Strongly recommended!!! After all it's a NIKON.

Customer Service

Did not have to use.

Similar Products Used:

None

Much more compact than the SB24 I also own.
Powerful output.
One button to unlock flash head for both tilt and turn actions -- a great improvement over the SB24 or Canon 550EX etc.

Buttons are almost flush, less easy to push than the SB24.

Being a mostly outdoor photographer, I hardly use flash. But in one recent portrait assignment the flash works wonder with the Nikon F100. The 3D matrix flash control takes care of fill-flash and the results are extremely natural looking, with no obvious signs of flash used. It is expensive, but I think for what it manages to do, it's worth every penny.

Similar Products Used:

SB24, SB23, SB17

Accuracy, predictability, size. Flexibilty

Price, power, buttons are a little too flush.

Great for portraits, and close work with predictable, ease of use operation. A little weak for some sports photography.

Customer Service

NA

Similar Products Used:

SB-16, etc.

powerful and works great in auto and TTL

a bit expensive

This is not a cheap flash!!!!!!!
However, if you can spare the cash get one. I have only had mine for about 3 months but I finally got a chance to really try it out at my brother's wedding. Using my f80 and the SB28 I put it in auto mode let the camera and the flash do the rest. The results were simply amazing. I mostly used the flash outside for fill in light. I was a little sketical considering this was the first true test for my this 'expensive' purchase but I was not disappointed at all.

nice work nikon !!

Similar Products Used:

none

Light weight.
Built in deflector card and diffuser.
Match the 24-85 f2.8-4 zoom range perfectly.

Buttons are flush and a bit hard to press.
No slave mode.
It can be a little cheaper.

I use this flash with my F100 and 24-85 f2.8-4 zoom. They worked so well together like they were designed together. The SB-28 provides very good fill-in and it is high enough to avoid a lot of red eyes.

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

SB-12

Powerful and small.

Small and powerful.

Flexible.

One-button control for tilts and swings - makes it easy to bounce off anything.

Retails for less than the SB-26 did.

Incandescent lamp for red-eye reduction creates an intolerably long lag time. It's OK for posed shots, but does not work at all for candids.

Foot is a bit weak, but that's where it's designed to break.

Incredibly capable flash with all the tricks - but read the manual (and I don't mean "read," I mean "study") to get the most out of it. Even if you're a full-auto type person, study the manual. Otherwise, you'll accidentally poke a button one day and have no idea how to get back.

Like the SB-26, the SB-28 does more than my brain retains. No wonder I still use a brace of Vivitar 285HVs and a flash meter when I really want to know what I'm doing. At any rate, compared to the SB-26, the SB-28 loses the slave feature (of marginal usefulness, since a Wein Hotshoe Slave costs about $20) and the ability to select rear curtain on the flash (this I miss). The SB-28 shares the SB-26's ridiculously long incandescent red-eye reduction, which, while effective, makes nailing candids all but impossible. (My tip: turn off the RE and buy a red-eye pen. Or, treat the red-eye with your favorite image processing program.) However, in many important ways the SB-28 is vastly improved. Its foot locks on faster and more-positively. It is smaller and much lighter, while having the same raw power. It is more-efficient, so I get more flashes with a set of batteries - heck, with the SB-26 I always had to carry spare batteries, but the SB-28 goes forever. The one-button tilt/swivel adjuster is a revelation. Yes, the buttons got a bit more-flush, but they also got a bit bigger and a lot more weather-tight. All this, and it retails for less than the SB-26 did! Such a deal!

Customer Service

Not needed.

Similar Products Used:

SB-26. Also the SB-16, SB-20, SB-23.

I also use Vivitar 285HVs for multiple flash set-ups, metered with a flash meter.

Small and powerfull. Very economic on battery. It is working perfectly with the TTl-matrice on my F-100.

May be the bottons are a bit flush. The instructions book isn't good. I had to experience it to discover that flash can work on aperture priority differently as the book said with my F-100. An example; Just set the mode "A" on the F100 and turn the wheel to the aperture you want and that will set automatitly the same aperture on the flash. Price is a bit hight but l don't regret to bought it at all.

Before l had a Metz 45CT4 and l had to change it when l bought my F100 because a problem of imcompatibility, even with the right adaptors of Metz. So l was a bit worry to change that flash for the SB-28. But after shooting in lots of conditions, l'm very glad of that flash. It's very economic on battery, powerfull. I use it mostly with a Nikon 28-105 and Nikon 80-200 f/2.8D-ED. I like the standbuy fonction. The full charge come fast and l use it mostly with alkaline Ultra batteries.

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

Metz 45CT4

Small and powerful
Integrated bounce card

Price is way too high
Poor red-eye reduction system
Buttons too flush

A very good flash that is overpriced by at least $100. Power, size, great flexibility are strong points for this product. You also need to spend some time with the manual to understand the wide scope of the features. The small, semi-flush buttons are difficult to push and the red-eye reduction system is just awful. The integrated bounce card is a nice touch (no more index cards with rubber bands). At $189, this flash would be a great buy, at $289 it is overpriced. I found my sample to be good with batteries and it recharges quickly.

Customer Service

N/A

Similar Products Used:

Canon, Vivitar, Sunpack

It's got credibility, looks, bells& whistles and it's reliable

I think the construction is low-down, espcially when you look at the SB-26. This flash is made by Sunpak for Nikon, MANY PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW THIS! But that's not a weakness. The cost is is a turn-off, but you get that back in the long run-hopefully! I also dislike the hot shoe area, it could be better, sometime it's uncomfortable on the fingers.

I think this flash unit is great, not excellent. I do love NIKON products and I'm a fan. I suggest anyone very serious with photography look into this product, if you can afford it, I rate it at a BUY...

Customer Service

no

Similar Products Used:

other low generics.

- size
- weight
- "keyboard" protected against moisture/dust
- 4 alkalines: alot of flashes compared to earlier Nikon flashes
- ...

I use the F5, so to me it isn`t a problem, but for those of you using a Nikon camerabody, where you can`t set the flash to expose at the 2. shuttercurtain on the camera, you won`t have this oppurtunity.

This flash does it! Everything you want - especially attached to N80, F100 and F5: Fillflashes with D-Nikkors are very accurate. At first I did every setting manually, but I have learned to trust the flashautomatics (although I like to be in control of the camera and flash!). FP is great, continuos flashing by fast frametransport, fast batterycharge after flashing etc. Well like I said, it does everything just perfect!
I know, some people say it seems less durable, but I don`t think this is the case (atmitted, I did at first too, but): I dropped it a short while ago...directly on a hard ground. It landed on the back and got SOME scratches, which indicates that it was a nasty drop! It still flashes, and although I have dropped it at times when it was still in my bag, it must have experienced some severe "shakes", but like I said: it still works in spite of that! I don`t think it`s that breakable.
IMHO a very PRO and powerfull flash.

Customer Service

called once for a question, they seemed nice...

Similar Products Used:

SB-25
SB-26